The cave was quiet this late Santa Carla night. But it was odd, a very odd night too. Paul was rolling a joint; David was focusing on a Sudoku, and Dwayne was reading a thick book. So you see, they were quite normal, it was Marko that worried them. The blonde was running back and forth, back and forth; taking various items to the sleeping chamber. Dwayne was the first one to notice the young teen's actions.

"Marko, what are you doing?" Dwayne's voice was deep and, in a strange way, comforting. Marko looked up at his name, "What?"

"What are you doing?" He repeated, his eyes were trained on his brothers.

"I'm making a pile in the back." Marko said standing straighter, then stumbling to the side and falling on the step. His hair stuck out in every direction, and his eyes held a….crazed, look to them.

"Why on earth would you need to do that?" David asked. He had looked up when Marko had fallen.

"Like, what if we didn't want to fly to the bar? If I make a pile, we could just, like, climb that, y'know?" Marko stood up again and began to drag a solid oak bed frame to the chamber, or as Paul and Marko call it, the pit.

"Marko are you feeling alright?" David's voice was sincere. It was not a question; it was an order to answer.

"What? Oh yeah never better. I feel, kind of like I'm floating but at the same time kind of like there's something on my shoulders." He sat down on the ground with a thud; he tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling.

"Are you on drugs?" Dwayne's voice was a whisper.

"I don't kn-! Paul gave me something." Marko stood and began to do high kicks for absolutely no apparent reason. Both David and Dwayne's eyes were on Paul before Marko could even process his answer.

"What did you do?" David groaned. He leaned his head back against the leather of his chair and closed his eyes. His wishes of a peaceful night had been crushed in a moment's time.

Paul smiled, "I gave him a little something."

"Why would you do that?" Dwayne questioned. He seemed more shocked than annoyed at this series of events; he had leaned forward on his knees and was now staring wide eyed at Paul.

"What? He'll be fine, they should wear off by tomorrow." Paul said.

"What did you give him?" Dwayne asked.

"I'm not quite sure. I got it off some guy on the beach."

"Why did you give it to Marko?"

"Well I had never tried it before, and I was a little worried of what it would do, and I wanted to test it on somebody. I was trying to think of somebody, and then I look up and there's a guinea pig."

"Guinea pig?"

"Yeah. A Spiderman reading, artsy, short, clown haired guinea pig. But a guinea pig none the less."

"So you not only gave him drugs, but you gave him drugs that you have no idea what they do, that's genius!"

"Really?"

"No."

"Well why was it such a bad idea, huh?"

"Look at him!" All three boys looked back at Marko, who had wandered to the back of the cave. He was swatting at an invisible bug. He swung with his arm out and put his fist through the Jim Morrison poster. He yanked his arm out, not caring to steady his feet and went tumbling to the floor. He began to sing frosty the snowman and wave his right hand in the air. All of the still sane boys looked at each other,

Paul bit his lip and sucked in air. "Um, I think that you guys might be right about this one."

"Ya think?" David growled. At that reaction Marko went running out the entrance of the cave.

The remaining three boys looked at each other, "Shit!" all three of them said this at the same time and ran to follow him.

Marko had decided flying was probably easier than going back to the cave and ransacking it for his keys. He took off into the air, and went into the direction of the boardwalk, the other three right on his tail.

They reached the boardwalk two minutes later.

"Marko slow down!" Dwayne put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back.

Marko turned to face them all, a goofy smile printed across his face, "Have you guys ever noticed that the air feels good on your feet when we do the whooshy thing?"

David frowned, "Whooshy thing?"

"Yeah, y'know, flying." Marko opened his mouth to speak again, but chose to turn his attention to the brightly lit building to his right. Dwayne wrapped his arm around Marko's middle so he couldn't run away.

"So now what?" he asked, struggling against the antsy boy in his arms.

David took a deep breath, "We follow him around, or lock him up, hope that he eventually passes out."

"How long do you think that will be? I can't hold him all night."

"You're twice his size."

"He's stronger than he looks." While Dwayne was distracted, Marko wrenched out of his grip and took off across the strip, not caring to lookout for fellow pedestrians.

All the boys looked to where he was heading, and began to dread even getting up that evening. The store that Marko was running towards, in bright blue letters, was the worse place for him to be on his high. VideoMax. They all followed him across the street.

When they got there they all began to reach for him frantically. He jumped from their grip range at the last second and entered the store

"Oh there he goes." Paul said tiredly.

"Well follow him!" David yelped. Maybe they could grab him before he caused any trouble. He stumbled up the counter, and kissed the counter attendant, Maria, on the cheek.

She giggled surprised, "Well it's nice to see you two Marko," She kissed Marko back, "I've never had anyone greet me that way."

"It's good to see you too Maria." Marko sat down on the floor and lay on his back.

Maria frowned and looked at Paul, "Um, is he okay?"

They all exchanged glances, "We're not really sure." Paul said shyly.

"Well what's wrong with him?" she asked. Maria had worked for Max for about two years, and she had befriended the boys quite quickly. And they all liked her too so it worked out.

"Paul gave him a mystery drug." David said matter-of-factly.

Dwayne went over and tried to pull him up, but he was struggling. Marko didn't seem to have very good coordination at the moment, and that didn't help.

"Put your feet underneath you," Dwayne instructed, "Good, now the other one. Alright, I'm gonna let go."

It took him a second, but Marko stood up pretty good after he gave it a try. To keep him straight, Dwayne stayed beside him. Max emerged from his office, and frowned at Marko, who was staring at his shoes like they were changing colors. Which at the moment, through his eyes, was quite possible.

"What happened to him?" He asked.

"Drugs." Maria said looking back at him. She went to go help a customer, a young Mexican girl, looking at a copy of Godzilla vs. Mothra.

Max sighed and rolled his neck, he gestured to Paul and Dwayne, "You two keep him out of trouble. David I would like you to explain to me exactly how this happened." He put his arm around David's shoulder and pulled him into his office.

Dwayne, Paul, and Marko stood and waited. After about a minute, Marko grew restless and backed up.

"I wanna go home." He rubbed his arm as he said this, and pouted.

Dwayne put a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye, "We're gonna go home soon buddy. Don't you worry."

Paul had given them all enough practice on how to treat someone on a drug. Kind and gentle was the best way to go, as not to upset them, there is no telling what someone on a high will do, so it's best to keep them calm and relaxed.

Max and David came from Max's office. Max was the first to speak.

"I understand the problem, and this is the solution I have come to. Take him to my house and put him to bed, lock the door and windows to the room he is in. You can all stay there tonight. I suggest you leave before anything happens that we will regret."

Not two seconds after Max said this, there was a huge crash. Marko had knocked over a movie stand, scattering DVD's, tapes, and glass in every direction. Max held his head in his hands and groaned.

"Sorry?" Marko says it more like a question than an apology, like he's not sure if it's the right thing to say.

Max lifts his head, "its fine. I will clean this up. You guys need to take him, go and be there by dawn." He goes and he and some other coworkers help him lift the wooden frame from the glass, while the boys pull a babbling Marko out the door before he can break anything else.

The walk to Max's was not as unpleasant as they thought it would be. Marko talked most of the way; about anything and everything from apples the way mood rings work. Then he started singing every word that ended in –art. All of them laughed at that. It was not often that Marko drank or did drugs, so each time was a time to remember. Even David admitted once that Marko was a happy drunk.

Right now they were fumbling with the lock on Max's front gate. Paul struggled, David watched, and Dwayne was handling the now high and exhausted Marko.

"Have you guys ever noticed everything looks white when you open your eyes after squeezing them closed real tight." Marko tripped over his own feet and was just barely caught by Dwayne, who seemed to be tiring as well.

"Marko, I think you're seeing things." David said, rubbing his eye.

Marko yawned, "Gosh I'm tired."

He swayed out to the side; Dwayne caught him by the back of his jacket and pulled Marko into him. He put his arm around his middle for like the fifth time tonight. He frowned as he did, for Marko always seemed to get out of his hold.

"Could you hurry up with that lock?" David griped.

"It's not as easy as it looks." Paul muttered.

"Well try harder."

"I'm trying."

"Will you two stop please?" Dwayne asked.

"Tell him to hurry his ass up."

"He's going as fast as he can."

"Thank you for taking my side for once."

"What do you mean for once? He always takes your side."

"No he doesn't, he usually sides with you."

"I don't pick sides."

"You just did."

"What are you five?"

"He sure is acting' like it."

"Coming from the guy who usually can't see straight."

"He sees straight now."

"That's not the point."

"Well then what's the point, huh? Cuz' I sure don't see it."

"The point is he is a hopeless junkie."

Dwayne released Marko as the argument with David escalated.

Marko stood back, using a picket fence post as a standstill. Picket fence. Marko looked at it and got an idea.

"That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"Bull."

Paul looked into Max's yard as David and Dwayne bickered, and almost snorted at what he saw.

"Marko, where are you going?" he shouted.

"The house, duh." He called back. He opened Max's front door and entered the house. Paul imitated his brother's movement and swiftly made it into the yard. He followed Marko inside.

David and Dwayne closed their mouths when they saw that their brothers were gone.

"Where'd they go?" David asked, looking around all confused like. Dwayne started to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"They hopped the fence."

Dwayne and David entered the house a minute later. Paul and Marko were in the living room.

"Bout' time you figured it out." Paul said smiling.

"Brat." David growled. That was all it took to drive the boys into another raging argument. This time including Paul.

Again Marko just watched and listened, until his chest began to heave. He couldn't breathe; he grabbed the mantle to steady himself. He tried to get his brothers attention. He waved at them.

"Pa-!" The words caught in his throat. He was nauseous, and his head was spinning.

"Nng!" Marko's legs gave out beneath him and he tumbled to the floor. David, Dwayne, and Paul all stopped, and went to help him. They got him up on the couch and began to poke at him.

"Dude, he's out cold." Paul said.

"C'mon, let's get him upstairs. Max has an empty bedroom." Dwayne lifted him with ease, and carried him up the steps. They laid him out on the guest bed. Paul went and looked out the window.

"The sun'll be up soon." He said. He locked the window tight and pulled the shades closed. They left and closed the door behind them.

Max closed the door behind him and locked it. He wandered into the living room and examined it all. The TV was on. Dwayne had fallen asleep on the couch, david in the armchair, and paul was laying on his stomach on the floor. He walked upstairs and stuck his head in the guest room. Marko was sleeping on the bed, the lamp beside him was on. Max walked in to turn it off, he ran a hand over marko's forhead, moving aside curls to look at him. He smiled. Max loves his boys. Max didn't just choose random boys off the street. Max had chose his boys because he saw something in them. It was Davids natural leadership, dwaynes silent and conservative offcome, Pauls energy, and markos creativity, and his need to laugh at pain. He turned off the lamp and went to bed himself.

The next night, when marko emerged from the stairs, he was wide awake. And confused.

"Well hello sunshine." Max said smiling at him.

"Sunshine? Im lucky to glow ever so dimly." Marko said, holding his head. "What happened?"

Max laughed at Marko's joke, "Paul experimented on you with drugs."

"Where is he?"

"Outside. Dwayne and david are out there to."

"Alright."

"You look like you could use some food."

"Don't bother."

"So how do you feel?" Max asked. Marko stared straight ahead. "Marko? How do you feel?"

Marko looked at Max, "I feel, like I will not trust Paul, for a very long time."

Max snorted, "Good."